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2-bad & General Stingrad's 'Origin of the Snakemen' (UPDATED 09/09)

Eons ago, before the seed of evil spread across the land and casts it shadow across the realm of Eternia, the Planet was ruled by Great Leaders who were respected by all people.

To the North was Eternos, ruled by the King Grayskull the great; it was the largest of the kingdoms. Grayskull was the fifth ruler of the tribe of Grayskull. Grayskull’s closest friend and advisor was a wizard and prophet known as Eldor.

To the east was Zolacia, it was the center of all magic on Eternia and many of it’s greatest wizards and sages came from there. The leader of this noble land was by a being known as the “Ruler of Zolacia”.

However neither Eternos nor Zolacia could compare to the kingdom of Serpia ruled by King Orphedius. The people of this land worship the god Serpos as it’s patron deity who was responsible for all the blessings in their lives & for the unlimited food supply. All the other kingdoms depended on Serpia for food and all other monarchs made sure to ally themselves with Serpia first, to ensure a share in their bounty.

However this peace would be interrupted, an evil had stepped foot on Eternia once more- The being known as Horde Prime .The ancient demon wizard’s powers were almost godly . At first he made his return on Eternia go unnoticed, that is until he created a huge army at his disposal consisting of mutilated prisoners, thieves , assassins & some of the most horrid species of beings on Eternia. One by one attacked the villages of the Southern rim of Eternia & developed a huge Acropolis. The Eternians kept close watch on his activities. Then his eyes were set on the Kingdom of Serpia, which was bordering the southern rim.

The people didn’t know about this darkness approaching, in fact evil was the last thing on their minds; it was their annual harvest celebration, a yearly celebration of the and King Ophedius had invited his three closet allies, Grayskull, Eldor, the “Ruler of Zolacia” to join in the festivities

“This year brought quite a good harvest for Serpia” Eldor commented to his ally King Grayskull.

“I agree, Grayskull. Their god has blessed them abundantly this year, what say you Eldor” The ruler of Zolacia commented. The Ruler of Zolacia was the oldest of the three monarchs; since Zolacia was the seat of all magic on Eternia it took decades to train the next king of that realm.

“Yes, it has King Ophedius has a lot to be thankful for this year” Grayskull replied as they looked at the place of Serpia. Waiting for their ally to show up.

Finally about noon, King Ophedius stepped out on to the balcony, “My friends, this year Serpos has given us a plentiful harvest this year and we praise him for that” he said raising his eyes toward the sky in prayer.

“HAIL SERPOS!” the crowed roared in response it was then that Eldor looked up at the sky and saw something eclipse the sun.

The wizard turns to Grayskull, “King Grayskull we must assemble the council, I fear the nameless terror from the bottom of the world has arrived.” He informed his friend.

“I hope for the sake of Eternia, you are wrong my friend” Grayskull told his friend as he observed the eclipse, he even though he hoped that Eldor was wrong, he knew what happened- Horde Prime had escaped from the bottom of the planet where he was confined to conquer Eternia and if not stopped, all Eternia was doomed.

Up in Eternia’s sky, Horde Prime had summoned his most trusted advisor Gerzan to hear of the day’s news.

“What have you to report?” the demon asked his servant.

Gerzan genuflected as show of fear and reverence for the demon as he considered him as a god, “Our forces are ready master, we need only to catch the Eternians in a lull and the full might of the Horde will crush Eternia” the lesser demon told his master.

“Gerzan station yourself on the planet, remain hidden until I call for you to attack, is that understood Gerzan?” Prime asked his servant.

“Yes, my master” Gerzan replied as Horde Prime dismissed his servant and watched as Gerzon got up and left the chamber.

Meanwhile on Eternia, King Grayskull had summoned the Council of the Ancients, a gathering of Eternia’s bravest leaders and greatest wizards to his ancestral home of Castle Grayskull.

“This meeting will come to order!” Grayskull shouted as the council turned to face him. “I have called you to deal with the urgent threat of Horde Prime” at those words the council was turned to an orderly meeting.

“Are you sure you saw Horde Prime, there are many things that could have eclipsed the sun” One council member told Grayskull

“Of course of it was Horde Prime” the voice of King Ophedius replied for Grayskull.

Ophedius took his seat amongst the council, “The question is not ‘was it Horde Prime’ but ‘how do we stop him’” the King of Serpia told the council.

“But how, We hardly know what this Horde Prime is, leave alone to defeat him.” another council member informed Ophedius.

“Simple, not even Horde Prime can withstand against the might of Eternia” Grayskull chimed in, paying the Ophedius back for saving his skin from integration at the start of the meeting.

“Well from all I could gather Horde Prime is waiting for something, he hasn’t made a sound since he was in the sky today.” Eldor told the group of wizards and warriors.

“Then we will wait, great Eldor, I will not to bring open war to Eternia so hastily” Grayskull told everyone present.

Eldor nodded in agreement “Yes I agree, we will not risk war, but we must watch Horde Prime’s every move and try figure out to what he is up to” Eldor informed the council.

“Agreed, we watch Horde Prime and see if we can’t uncover his plan” Grayskull repeated as his adjourned the meeting.

For three years, Horde Prime remained silent; he was gathering his forces from across the cosmos to Eternia. Thousands of troops poured onto Eternia carrying the Horde standards with them.

When he was sure that his forces were greater than the Eternian he contacted Gerzon on the planet’s surface.

“Gerzon” he called out to his servant.

“Yes Master” the Horde commander replied to the demon’s call.

“Now is the time, I will meet you at Well of Darkness” the demon told him.

“Yes my master my forces will be ready” He informed Horde Prime as the message ended.

Gerzan turned to his team Generals, they were unsavory lot, they were demons of ever shape and sort it was if the infernal regions had opened up and spewed forth its citizens on Eternia, and they formed his crack team of warriors.

There are a few artists that I can't get enough of... gbagok is one, and the other is 2-Bad. There is just something about your art that appeals tremendously to me. It's imperfect but perfect at the same time, it's squiggly but crisp, raw but refined... All in all, just awsome!!! The story is pretty sweet as well. I love the cartoon and can't wait to see how the snake men came to be... Keep up the spectacular work 2-Bad!

“Ana my dear” he said to his queen, who was still asleep trying to wake her up, before the Horde arrives.

Finally after a few seconds queen Ana opened her eyes, “What is it my dear?” she says looking at her husband.

“The Horde is attacking my dear, I think it would be best if you headed to the shelter in the lowest levels of the palace” she told her.

“But what about you?” she asks worriedly.

“I will go out to face this evil and if I do not return, remember that I love you always” he said as he turned to face his wife and kissed her. She watched as her beloved husband went to face the Horde.

“I love you too,” she whispered to him as she watched him leave in his chariot to face Horde Prime.

“Have you summoned the other kingdoms to our aid?” he asked his general a man by the name of Yulvenia as they rode out to battle.

A few minutes later they arrive at the battlefield, there before them stood the armies of the Horde.

“By Serpos, Prime must have summoned his entire forces here” Orphedius exclaims as he saw the entire Evil Horde in front him.

“But you won’t have to fight him alone” King Grayskull and Eldor tell him as they stand up beside Orphedius with the army of Eternos behind him.

“Yes, all of Eternia is united in this battle” The Ruler of Zolacia said as he rode up on his steed with the army of wizards behind him.

“As is the Cosmos” said a voice from behind Eldor’s army, it was the voice of Zorlak the Cosmic Enforcer as the leaders stood facing the gigantic army led by Commander Gerzon.

“HORDE PRIME! SURENNDER NOW AND NO HARM WILL COME TO YOU TROOPS” Grayskull shouted to the demon hoping that it would listen to reason.

Prime laughed at the offer, “I have commanded the forces of evil, since before Eternia was formed, how dare you even think about threatening me” the demon yelled. “ATTACK”, he ordered his forces.

“FORWARD! FOR ETERNIA!” Grayskull, Orphedius and Eldor shouted in unison as they marched they’re forces into battle.

The conflict lasted for days; thousands of Serpia’s citizens & soldiers had lost their lives in the deadly battle.Horde Prime’s forces were weakened by a large amount too but not defeated. His forces withdrew the attack & headed back to their land to regroup.

It is then that the leaders decided to put an end to the tyranny of the demon & launched a surprise attack on his home territory before they could regroup, while Eldor, Greyskull, Zorlak & Orphedius headed to face prime in a conflict of magic & weakened him. But still with one powerful jolt of magic from his hand he attacked the defenders & caused damage to their armies.

“By Serpos, the monster still lives” Orphedius said as saw the carnage in front of him.

“We will defeat him, I promise” Grayskull assures his friend

The words fall on deaf ears; Orphedius has a plan of his own. Secretly, he takes a medallion from his robe and raises it in the air.

Grayskull and Eldor immediately recognize the object, The Medallion of Divinity, “Orphedius have you gone mad” Grayskull shouts as he tries to wrest the medallion from him.

“I’m saving Eternia” he exclaims holding into medallion up in the air.

“But you cannot control it, We hardly know of this power. What if things go wrong. ” Eldor warns the King Serpia.

“What do you know? Things have already gone wrong. My once prosperous Kingdom has almost dwindled to a burning pile of ash. My people brutally slaughtered. It can’t get any worse. I will summon the Snake god whether you like it or not.” he snapped at both Eldor and Grayskull.

“The Kings of Eternos is right, even you can not harness the power of Serpos” Zorlak warns Orphedius.

“Even I in all my magic cannot control that god, listen the Enforcer Orphedius he knows what he is talking about” The Ruler of Zolacia implores his friend

“You’re wrong I CAN control Serpos” he sneered as he tried to punch the Enforcer, but the enforcer ducked and he hit the Ruler of Zolacia instead.

“I’m warning you, you’ll pay a price for messing with forces you cannot control” Zorlak warned the Serpian King & left the scene of battle.

Once he was sure that the Enforcer was gone he returns to his dark magic “Now to bring Serpos to life” he said as chanted the spell, instantly green beams of energy appeared and soon the energy transformed into the god Serpos.

“Serpos! I command you, destroy Horde Prime!” the King of Serpia ordered the three-headed snake.

The demon did as he was told and begin to attack Horde Prime; the two entities were locked in a battle that can only be described as a battle of the gods. The battle lasted for hours, until the Snake god injected his venom into Horde Prime.

When Gerzan saw his master wounded, he ordered what was left of the Horde to retreat.

“I did it” he said as he saw the hulking form of Horde Prime fall to the ground with a thunderous crash. Suddenly a light glows around him & he transformed into three orbs of pure energy.

“No Orphedius!! You have only delayed the inevitable. You may have defeated me this time, but you can never destroy me. I will regroup & return & Eternia will dread that day.” The orbs then flash into the sky with the speed of light.

While he was standing observing the victory, energy from a fading Serpos was discharged from the medallion and struck Orphedius sending him into a swoon. The power of Serpos had corrupted his body & its venom ran down his veins. King Ophedius was dying.

Question:
Do the worshippers of Serpos consider Serpos to be an omnipotent being or a powerful/destructive entity with no true sentience. It seems odd that Orphedius would praise Serpos for a bountiful harvest, and yet try to control his "God" as if he were an attack dog.

Minor Crits:
1) Isn't King Grayskull over 8 ft tall in the toon. In your story, he appears to be a little shorter than the Ruler of Zalecia.
2) It looks like your following the comic continuity with your portrayal of the Faceless One, which is fine. But c'mon give the guy a name. The "Ruler of Zolecia" bit was used in the comic because of the legal restrictions Mattel put on the creators. This is a fan based comic you can do whatever you want with the characters.